


A Balcony in the Stars

by Naelhinn



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Cute, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 05:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17656814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naelhinn/pseuds/Naelhinn
Summary: The royal castle in Nohr is full of mysteries, secret rooms, forgotten halls and cold corridors. When, on the day of the marriage of SIegbert, Soleil needs to rest, she wanders in its maze to one of the room that she keeps for herself, one of the room that no one but her knows of.





	A Balcony in the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Hello ~  
> This is my first fanfiction in English and overall my first fanfiction on this site. I hope that my English isn't too poor, please tell me if you find any mistake. Hopefully the beta-reading has been helpful and there won't be that many, but still.
> 
> I can't thank Lulukaw enough, who beta-read this (and god was it necessary, some mistakes were... I don't even want to think about it) and was very inspirational. Once more, thank you so much.  
> And if you haven't already, go read her Sophelia, it's called "Dancing Between the Stars" and it's wonderful and super cute.
> 
> ~~
> 
> And also, I'll probably be posting my translation of this fanfiction in French soon, so if you can read this message but not the whole fanfiction or just wanna see what it will look like in French, it should come rather quickly.

That night the royal castle was ablaze with lights and music. The night itself was dark with a clear sky adorned with shining stars and a huge full silver moon. From afar the castle looked like a giant glittering gleaming jewel suspended in a sea of darkness, a pearl so radiating that all nearing lights seemed dimmed. The whole town, though grandly illuminated, was but a firefly next to a morning sun. The great stone towers that rose high into the sky were like pines shining with fire, and their windows were a myriad of colourful wisps. It was a fantastic sight and many people in the town spent hours admiring the beauty of the castle that night, despite the numerous shows that were taking place in the streets. Those that had known the castle by the time of Garon were astonished; it was truly magnificent, even the coronation of Xander hadn't been so festive and splendid. In every street, in every shop, at every table, there were murmurs in such a way that the entire town was pretty much buzzing with excitement.  
It had been a long time since the Hoshidian royal family had come to Nohr. Their arrival in the early morning had caused quite the emotion: soon all the town had heard about a cloud of pegasi, of presents beyond imagination, of gems that shone brighter than the sun itself, of the Queen, who looked so fair and mighty. Of course, there were a lot of overstatement and, if it was true that Queen Hinoka had indeed come and made quite the impression with her suite, of the cloud of pegasi, it was hard to find any evidence. But what excited the most the imagination of everyone was the nature of the presents brought by Hoshido, as it was a total mystery. As is customary, the presents had already been offered since the fall of the night, and the fact that no one but those inside of the castle would know anything about them only made them more mysterious and a better topic of discussion.  
Then, as midnight struck, all murmurs died and, in a matter of seconds, the silence was complete. The base of the castle was bathed in a red gleam and everyone held their breath. Something went up with a swoosh, leaving a trail of smoke behind. And suddenly there were explosions in the sky; red flowers, green suns, golden sprinkles, blue snakes that spiralled up in the sky, silver waves that crumbled as they moved and whirlwinds of pink and violet petals that enveloped the castle. The silence became an absolute cacophony where sighs of wonder, shouts of admiration and hoorays were mixed.

From the large window she was standing next to, Soleil had a wonderful view of the colourful explosions and barely held a whistle of delight. Truly, those “fireworks” the Hoshidians had brought were stunningly beautiful. She raised to her lips the glass of wine she was holding and sipped it. Hoshidian wine, too. A fine one, from what she had heard. She glanced at the circle of dancers and saw that it had broken into a crowd that quickly walked towards the windows. Realising it would be rather difficult to get out of the crowd once it would have gathered around the windows, and given that the spectacle would probably last for at least five or ten more minutes, she left the wall she was leaning against and went in the direction of the buffet, moving through people like a leaf. Upon reaching the buffet, she sighed and gave her glass to a servant, who filled it again.  
As she sipped it slowly while trying to catch her breath she heard steps and raised her head. When she saw who was coming, she bowed with a smile.

“My congratulations your Majesty. It is truly an honour to have been invited today.”  
“Oh come on Soleil, there's no need for that and you know it very well. Beside I didn't have to invite you; as the daughter of Father's vassal, it was obvious you were.”

They both laughed and Soleil raised her head.

“That was a wonderful ceremony Siegbert. I mean, ceremonies. I'm surprised you are still standing straight with how early you were up.”  
“Between you and me I could fall on the ground and sleep until tomorrow right now. But I didn't really have the choice. And, to be true, it wasn't so bad. Sure I prefer the Nohrian way, with the vows at dusk and all but… still. Plus having both ceremonies was probably for the best.”

Soleil nodded.  
“This will go down in history. The first marriage between the Hoshidian and the Nohrian royal families in ages! With this, the peace will last forever.”  
“Hopefully it will indeed” Siegbert answered “but enough talking about me, you're radiant in this dress Soleil!”  
“Thank your cousin. He sewed it especially for me.” she said merrily. As a matter of fact she was really happy with what Forrest had done; it was beautiful but in no way did it disturb her movements. It was nowhere as comfortable as her brigandine and she surely missed her sword but there was no threat whatsoever, and dancing with her blade by her side would have been less easy.  
“I saw you had a lot of fun earlier. Are you planning on dancing again?” Siegbert said, seeing that Soleil was getting lost in her thoughts.  
“I indeed had a lot of fun but I don't think you can count on me for another round; I'm exhausted. This Hoshido's princess you married is a wonderful dancing partner. And she's real cute.”

Siegbert laughed before answering.  
“Indeed she is! But tell me, is there anyone you haven't danced with tonight?”  
“I fear that I didn't quite manage to do so. I might have missed half of the audience.” she answered with a wink before bowing and adding “If you excuse me though, I really need some fresh air and a little bit of time alone.”

And she left Siegbert, who chugged his glass and went back to the crowd near the windows. She walked swiftly and, since most of the guests were admiring the firework, got to the door quickly. Her head was turning and the fireworks, though beautiful and very impressive, were also very loud, especially at such a short distance. As she followed the cold stone walls a new rocket went up in the sky and detonated, raining in red sparkles. Maybe that last glass of wine had been a little bit too much. Maybe.

After the end of the war, despite being quite often sent on mission, Soleil had spent a lot of time in the castle, which had resulted in her knowing it almost as well as if she had grown up in it. She knew of the great halls decorated with huge tapestries, she knew of the towers that rose high in a sky and were never quiet, especially at night, though for once their ever-going murmurs had stopped. But she also knew of all the quiet places where one could be alone; all those places that were either unknown to most people or simply never used. It had often served her well: in the empty halls, the silent dancing rooms and the cold, dark gardens, as many scars of both the war and what was before, she would always find a way to bring back a fading smile. It could be a flower, a melody, a laughter, an old clock, a dusty mirror or even a window opening on a starry sky. Those places were what remained of the night, what remained of the fog of solitude that shrouded the surface of Nohr, what remained of the illusions and the lies that had poisoned the land, but now that life was growing back up from underground such artefacts of the past were becoming rarer and rarer. And as they faded into history and history had unfolded in front of her in this very day, Soleil found that in these abandoned rooms of the past, under the tainted layer of darkness, were entire walls of moonlight and setting suns. And so, whether she kept their silence for herself or shared their emptiness for the time of a tea, a flirt and dance, she always found her heart warmed and filled.

She kept walking in the empty yet illuminated rooms. The music and the voices of the guests had now almost faded away; they were but an echo lost in the corridors of the castle, trapped in there forever, a wandering laugh, a ghostly melody that would always remind them the sound of peace. Soleil, however, was not lost, and neither was she wandering aimlessly. There was one place, one place that she'd kept to herself, one place were she knew she could breathe fresh air, daydream and rest far from the lights and the sounds. She stopped. She stood still and felt the breeze. The room was bathed in a dim silver light. There was something magic about this room, something she couldn't really explain. Every time she came there it was different. She couldn't say what was different; just that something was different. Something felt different. At first she'd thought that it was due to the light, and it was a pretty good explanation since the room was more an open corridor or a kind a veranda with one side open on the outside, and when it was the right hour on the setting sun, with huge stone archways stud with gems scales all linked together with golden strips. To prevent people from falling to their death by inadvertence there was a stone railing. On the other side was an entire wall of mirrors that curved toward the centre, as if they sank into the wall, into the very flesh of the castle. Every hour, every minute offered a new spectacle that would last both barely a tenth of a second and an eternity. Even after all the time she had spent there Soleil couldn't help but marvel at the dancing lights, the glimmers, the sparkles. Yet she had come to the conclusion that there was something else that made this room special, unique. She came closer to the archways and looked upwards. Here stood her secret room, above her, hidden between the shadows and all the other balconies, towers and all kind of stone excrescences. It was her room, the room she had never shared with anybody. A room so secret that it was secret even to her. She didn't know how to reach it. There were no stairs that seemed to lead to it and, though she could see a possible climbing path, it was too risky. She preferred to let it be her secret, watching it from the archways, imagining it in her dreams. And so she dreamt, dreamt for hours sometimes, dreamt until a breeze or a ray of sun woke her up. She closed her eyes, let her mind float up to the dark little balcony, crossed her arms on the cold balustrade and dreamt.  
From up there the sky was a silk ribbon spangled with fire sparkling diamonds that laid on the land, hugging it perfectly and losing threads of darkness as it curved around the world, and those threads glided on the land like rivers made of shadows, and the light of the moon reflected in them, turning these black curves into silver hairs. Dreams and reality faded into one another and soon the freezing wind of winter became as magic as the stars that danced above her head, the silver-glowing moon became as tangible as the stone under her hands and the dark balcony remained what it was, both real and unreal, but she couldn't tell what was real in it and what wasn't. And so she dreamt.

She had no notion of time but after what seemed to be both an eternity and merely a second, whispers clouded the silence, a dim light threw yellowish shadows in the realm of darkness and a heady fragrance shrouded her senses. She turned around, surprised.

“Ophelia?”

Since when was she there? Since when were her two pearly eyes fixed on her, since when was she observing her? She also seemed surprised, as if she didn't expect Soleil to notice her.

“Oh no, did I awake you from the deep, dark and mysterious slumber of dreams? I dared not speak nor breath, for I feared to break your connection with the world of spirits and stars! I cannot find good enough words to tell you how sorry I am! I should have known, I should have known, but you were beaming with energy and my soul; no, my very being was drawn to you!”  
“It's all right, I was only half asleep” Soleil answered while rubbing her eyes. “And I had no mystical connection of any sort. I was just like, you know, dreaming.”

Her answer gave birth to a smile on the lips of the mage, who came closer as she spoke.

“Just dreaming? There is no such thing as a “mystical” dream. Dreams are, by nature, absolutely mystical. They are one of the many gates to the other realms of reality. Those that travel in their dreams, those that can bring back their mysteries and their whispers with them, those dream exactly like you and me. They might use ways to dream more efficiently, whether it's mysterious beverages or rare incenses, but it's only dreams. It's only a matter of being aware of it and learning not to wander blindly but to wander carefully.” By the time she had finished, she was already next to Soleil, who answered merrily.  
“As for myself I'll just keep dreaming. It's way too complicated for me. And I had too much wine I think.”  
“It was an excellent one indeed, a beverage of the sun, a wonderful, marvellous, divine nectar! And it was fit for the occasion! Oh what a wonderful wedding it was. I hadn't seen anything as beautiful in a long time. And I must say, though the vows at dusk were absolutely splendid, the Hoshidian ceremony was impressive. Now that the two lights shine together they will spare no shadow in our future. Such a beautiful wedding foretells bright times in front of us! There is no doubt that the skies of fate now twinkle with glory and radiate with joy.” She had said it without any pause with great movements of arms towards the dark sky of the night. After a short silence, she added. “That is why I came here at first. I wanted to watch the stars rearrange in the sky, I wanted to see how beautiful our future could get.” She then sighed and stared at the clouds of stars that roamed around the sky.

At that sigh Soleil blinked. She could barely see Ophelia. Not because of any lack of light; on the contrary, she just couldn't seem to distinguish her from the starry sky. She couldn't tell if it was already the case earlier, when behind the mage was the wall of mirrors. All she could remember was her two eyes and her voice. But now she faded in the sky. Maybe that she was just tired, maybe this was only an illusion, but she could swear that right now, the very body of Ophelia, with the exception of her face and the top of her shoulders, were part of the sky. Hanging on her forehead was a pale pearl that Soleil almost took for the moon. She was bewildered by how the mage seemed to melt into the sky until she noticed how the stars and the deep spaces of infinity were dancing with the wind and Ophelia's movements.

“Yes… beautiful ceremony.” She marked a pause. “And so are you. Stunningly so.” Once again, a pause, a sigh, a smile. “Forrest's work I guess?”  
Ophelia seemed pleased by her observation.  
“Yes! He insisted on sewing one for me and I couldn't say no.” She lifted her left sleeve and added with a laughter, “not that I complain about it, or that he had great difficulties convincing me. If the Chosen Ones were to name only the creations of one being, Forrest surely would be their choice. At the very sight of his work, the greatest stars blush, the sun grows pale, the hurling wind dies into a gentle whisper! His clothes are not only clothes, they are pieces of art, jewels of light, a glimmer of grace, a spark of delicacy that in a blaze of eternity turn you into a thing of beauty!”  
But not all need it to shine like a thousand stars, Soleil thought while devouring Ophelia with her eyes. The mage sighed and returned to the first topic of conversation on this special day.

“Yes… definitively a wonderful wedding. Everyone was expecting it for such a long time. I can scarcely believe that it has finally happened.”  
“Well, if Siegbert took a long time to settle, what about us, who aren't even royalty?” Soleil answered in a laugh.  
“That is true. As for myself, I have been married to the stars for so long that I don't know if I will ever find anyone as bright as the one star that guides my heart. The brightest, warmest, which obscures the beauty of all other stars in this world.” She stopped with a soft smile and added, “but what about you Soleil? From what I recall I've always seen you in the company of a beautiful girl. Will you ever settle, or will you keep leaping from adventure to adventure?” She said playfully, but Soleil laughed and answered very seriously.  
“I just can't find anyone whom I'd want to spend my life with.”  
“Haven't found… or haven't asked?” Ophelia said, and Soleil blushed.

There was an awkward moment where both of them seemingly desired to talk but neither could find anything to talk about, and eventually they just turned toward the landscape.  
The moon was now high in the sky and bathed everything in its light. The wind was cold and stronger than before and Soleil shivered as she could make out Ophelia's skin under her starry dress. The silence, the silver light of the full moon, the strange impression she had upon seeing Ophelia; everything created quite a magical frame, quite a dream frame. Was it only her mind? Was she still dreaming? If it was a dream… well, it was a very comforting one, a very pleasant one, she thought as in her imagination her hand slowly made its way up the arm of Ophelia, brushed her shoulder and came back in front of her heart. Whether it was a dream or it was not, she had no reason to break the silence, and so the silence lasted. And it lasted. Lasted. What a divine silence it was; it gave her mind all the time it required to dare take the mage's hand, warm her cold skin and graze the idea of touching her lips. All in imagination, of course, but it wasn't any less delightful.

The silence could have probably lasted all night long but, eventually, Ophelia whispered something. Maybe it wasn't actually a whisper, maybe it was clear and in a loud voice, but Soleil's mind was hazy.

“When I surprised you earlier, were you watching the balcony up there?”

Or maybe it was a whisper. She couldn't tell. The words, slowly but surely, made their way to her. When they reached, her mind cleared all her other thoughts.

“Wait you know about it?” She was genuinely surprised and didn't try to hide it. “I thought I was the only one who knew.”  
“Well I do. A secret balcony, bathed in darkness, overlooking the western landscape, with such a great view on the summer sky? Is this not the best the Chosen One could ask for? A room of her own, hidden from everyone, where she can read the stars, read the fate of the world, dream over and over and over again?” She smiled as she answered, knowing very well what Soleil would say now.  
“But how? I searched on every map, it isn't even mentioned!”  
“I heard tales. Some talk about an ancient princess who asked the architect to create this room especially for her and never to tell her father. Others tell us that the princess made it herself with magic. However, all tales agree about a secret passage, hidden in the ever-changing light of the day, hidden where no shadow could reveal it.”

Soleil didn't even need to ask Ophelia to continue.

“Would you want me to take you there? I found the secret passage. Actually I was on my way to the balcony when I found you musing at the sky. Were your dreams taking you to this balcony? How much did I dream about the wonders that it might hold! The ancient parchments, the cryptic prophecies, the forgotten spells!”  
“Yes. Yes I would like it.” Soleil managed to tell.

Ophelia walked away from the railing, followed by Soleil, and went right to the central mirror. There it took her only a few seconds and there was a sound. In a blink the mirror opened up on a spiral staircase deprived of light. Soleil entered after Ophelia and the mirror closed behind her. Despite the overwhelming darkness she found Ophelia's hand and grabbed it. As they walked up her eyes began to accommodate to the obscurity and eventually she was able to see the steps, but didn't tell Ophelia. She probably knew very well but she hadn't dropped her hand.  
After a little bit longer they reached even ground. There was a wooden door through which silver beams of light got in the staircase. There, before opening the door, Ophelia took both of her hands and got closer to her face so that her whisper was clear.

“Now, are you sure that you want to enter? There are things in this world that are better left unknown, unexplored, left to our imagination. Amongst those, our dreams. From what I learned after all this time, knowing how to wander in our dreams breaks their magic. They are less mysterious. Once you start knowing that they have keys they don't appear as bare doors, and you know it is only a matter of time until you find the right key and discover what hides behind it.” She was so close that Soleil could hear her breath. She was serious. More than usually.  
“You seem to have learnt a lot. And changed a lot.” Her answer was hesitant and she had taken her time to think about it.  
“It has been a long time since war ended. Peace changes you, it changes your world. Sometimes you find answer to questions you never even asked yourself. Sometimes you ask questions you know you will never find any answer to. But peace changes you for the best.” Ophelia answered softly.  
“And sometimes dreams can change. Sometimes a dream might take the place of another. Sometimes, unlocking one door is enough to let you wander into a new infinity of dreams.” Soleil added, this time with no hesitation.

Ophelia smiled, skimmed her hands before dropping them and opened the door. Soleil entered. There was a small empty room that led to the balcony. An empty and dusty writing desk surrounded with empty and dusty shelves. Ophelia entered behind her.

“I found it like this. Absolutely empty. Cold. No forgotten spells, no hidden prophecies, no relic of an ancient age… nothing. A dark room with a cold wind and cold stones.”

Soleil kept moving towards the balcony. It felt strange, almost as if this room was out of time. It wasn't like where she spent time, alone or with a guest of her own. Here there were no shadows of the past, no whispers of an ancient ghost. This place was bare. She reached the balcony. In front of her there was only the sky. Huge, dark, swarming with shiny stars, both a well of eternal obscurity and of eternal twinkling light. She was bathed in the sky now and could barely feel the wind. She was above the wind. She was the sky.  
Ophelia was still next to the door to the staircase.

“It is in darkness that a star shines the most. Amongst other stars, a star is but a spark in a blaze, a whisper in a rumbling thunder, a drop in the ocean. Yet it is. And you shine both day and night, you shine and obscure the stars. When you are the ocean is no more, devoured by the spark, the rumbling thunder dies in the drop, the blaze is blown away by the whisper” she said.

As she talked she walked towards Soleil and took her hand. Silent, they leant their elbows on the railing and exchanged warmth from their fingertips. The stars were shining brightly. The moon was full and huge. The night was deep and dark. The wind was cold and ferocious. The whole universe was around them. They were but two dots facing the ever-growing eternity of the universe. Soleil could feel Ophelia's heart beating. She could smell and feel her skin. Silver hairs danced like rivers descending upon the meadows. Without a word Ophelia had snuggled her head between Soleil's head and shoulder. It felt warm, soft and delightfully appeasing. In her head thoughts were whirling and she said aloud what she thought she was only keeping for herself.

“The stars are so shiny, the moon is so huge, the sky is so deep. Maybe that I am still dreaming.”

To this, a soft voice whispered in answer:

“I hope not. What a shame it would be if it were only a dream, if it faded away at dawn.”

The wind was cold. They snuggled up against each other.


End file.
